TMaxxTim

Okay, I have a 92 SC300 with the Nakamichi head in it. When I got the car the 2 rears had been replaced with some polk speakers and the front 2 were blown to hell and back. I replaced teh front two speakers with some okay polk ones from my old car. I have the CD Changer hack to my iPod and I never listen to CD's at all in my car so thats not important, its either iPod or XM Satellite Radio.

I also have 2 12" Polk MOMO MM2124 subs in the back in sealed boxes powered by a Power Acoustik 980W amp (260w x 2 Bridged)

I'm trying to figure out if what I will be doing will be superior to the Nakamichi amp powering the Polk speakers already in my car.

Here's want I want to do:

Alpine Head Unit w/ Build In iPod controller thingy and XM Radio Capability
(This would allow me to sell my Nakamichi Head Unit and my XM radio itself)
I have NO idea which unit. Playing CD's, MP3's, WMA CD's is not important, I just want the iPod capability with adapter and the XM radio capability. (Any suggestions would be appreciated)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=38649

Maybe that for a headunit because at least it has RCA Aux inputs I can plug my iPod and XM Radio into with.

I want to get one that reads the name of song playing from the iPod on the screen of the headunit.

Polk MOMO 6.5" Component Speakers in the Front (eBay $181)

Alpine SPR-17LP 6.5'' for the Rear ($60 on eBay - New and already purchased)

Polk MOMO C400.4 4 Channel Car Amp - This is what I want to power my speakers in the car and I think this will be the biggest help to make things sound better ($350 from Crutchfield.com)

I'm also looking at the possibility for another subwoofer amp becasue the subs I have can take 400w RMS and I feel jipped by only giving them 260 even though I never crank it up all the way.

BTW I'll be purchasing a Optima Red Top battery from Costco when this is all through to handle the extra power! And give my alternator a good cleaning with maybe some new 0 guage cables to the battery and chassis!

Any suggestions, places to get things cheaper or good replacements I'd love to hear. I only chose Polk MOMO's because I purchased the subs and they are GREAT quality so I'd like to expand on that!


How important is it to have a quality amp with a setup like this. Is there really that big of a difference between a 4 channel Power Acoustik Amp and a 4 Channel Polk MOMO amp? Worth the $200 price increase? I'll pay it if there is, but I could almost get 2 of the Power Acoustik ones for that price increase.

FireCode

iTrader: (1)

good post, I'll see what I can do to help.
For starters, almost anything that you put in will be better than the 13 year old stock system. Ok well not anything but you get the point. IF you are looking at getting a different amp for your subs, look at getting an amp that is class D mono. You wil be giving them proper power and they will play accordingly. To the next part. I have never used Polk MOMO's before so I really cant comment on them but some people say you are only paying for the "MOMO" name. However, if the subs sound good, then I would expect the Comps to sound just as well with proper install. Again, if you are not a true audiophile, you will be uber satisfied.
Next point...Your system is only as good as the weakest link. So yea your amps are very crucial. If you have the money, use it and buy good amps. Unless you are set on getting new equipment, you can find awesome deals on used "top notch" amps. Some quality brand amps that would be worth looking into for your front stage would be as follows
Phoenix Gold
tru amplifier
Arc
zapco
brax
us amps
TRU Tech..
Old Sschool Lanzar Opti amps
Power Acoustik amps are great if you are on a budget. So honestly I would not say that the MOMO amp is worth the extra 200 bucks. However, look into some "high end" amps.
Going all one brand is not always the best thing for your system. The best thing is to get the best dedicated equipment. Ge the best amp that you can afford to power your subs. Use the best wire that you can afford to round everything out.

bolts00

Hello, I just bought this Alpine Stereo from Crutchfield:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-e9iNdqu...DA9830&g=62700
It is the head unit and it comes with a box to hook your Ipod up to. I just received it 2 days ago so I haven't installed it yet. It is supposed to display the ipod stuff on the alpine screen. You can get $20 off you order if you know someone who has bought from them before. I can give you a code but it is a referal thing and I don't want to post it (I am not trying to sell for crutchfield).
I am putting mine in my nieces 1993 sc300. She had the Pioneer p1606 (no cd control) if anyone knows the wiring for that model I would appreciate it.

TMaxxTim

Thanks for the help, thats exactly what I was looking for.

Name Brand is not that important. I'm all for buying a used amp if it costs less. I don't really want to buy used speakers because I want to know that I have 100% speakers and not ones that are partially blown or fully blown on arrival.

Does the power that the amp says its putting out really important? I know certain amps are overrated and certain ones are underrated, any suggestions on what to look for and which ones to look for. I think I'll be keeping my subwoofer amp for now, maybe upgrading later on, I want to see how it sounds once I get everything else put in, but I definately want a nice amp powering the speakers in the car.

Also, I was looking at headunits and was thinking I'm going to have to spend $400-$500 on one that has the iPod hookups and stuff, so if I was going to spend that much I found a nice Jensen (i know not the best brand, but I don't think they're crap) 7" head unit dvd player with 2 aux inputs. A reverse camera for $40 which I think would be an AWESOME upgrade for my car (my 5% tint and the mirror that doesn't turn off dark doesn't make it easy to see out the back).

I'll do a little more research with those name brands and see what I come up with on eBay. I'd like to keep the 4 channel amp under $250, I found a Infinity amp that puts out 100w x 4 @ 4 ohms in Circuit City for $229.